AIBU to feel guilty for not stopping a crow?

So the baby bunny probably died anyway and the baby crows starved...

I stepped in once and chased off 2 crows hunting a very small baby bunny rabbit. One crow had it in its claws and was flying off with it when I came across them and frightened it into dropping the bunny. I kept an eye and watched the crows come back and hunt for the baby again. I ended up climbing over a gate into a field to frighten them away so the bunny could escape. It upset me for a long time afterwards but as my husband asked would I have been so bothered if it wasn’t a really cute fluffy tailed bunny? Not sure. It is nature and It’s happening all the time but we just don’t see it. It’s still very upsetting to witness.

My husband tried to rescue a honey bee from a spider's web once. His good deed was a three-way failure.

My husband was stung by the honey bee. The honey bee flew away to die. The spider lost its tea.

Don't interfere with nature.

Of course you shouldn't intervene. The crow also has babies to feed and that's one of its food sources.

Crows are no less worthy or important than any other bird.

Wild animals and birds eat each other. That's how it works. It's not fair to limit one bird's chances of survival in favour of another bird just because you find it less cute than the other one. I agree it's horrible to watch, but let the crow do its thing. It's hungry and has beaks to feed.

Nature.
The crow has to feed his chicks as well, it's not going to buy KFC.

Be careful with crows. There was a poster on here once who felt a crow was after her and she never came back. I often wonder what happened to her 😱🤣

ETA my post was light hearted but I did once see a bird die and it’s not nice to see at all, so I am sending a virtual arm pat.

In the words of Chris Peckham, predation.

But it's not nice for you to see, sorry you did. It will be forgotten in a few days.

I think if you had stepped in, damaged may have already been done and the baby chick would have suffered more

.

In situations like this I just ask myself "What would Attenborough do?"

I'd have had a heart to heart with the crow about the ethical benefits of veganism.

Thanks! Mine is a greyhound but has a low prey drive or only that of the average dog. I wouldn't let her chase birds, though she has shown no interest in them or other things really, only squirrels. And can't be bothered now as she is older. We have two cats and they are the boss of her. She is wary of cats, wisely.

We used to have a JRT and she once managed to catch a young squirrel in the park. It was very distressing to witness. Mother Nature red in tooth and claw. I find any wildlife documentaries showing predators taking down prey difficult to watch.

@DeftGoldHedgehog if it makes you feel any better, my dog did the same a few years go. He spotted a fledgling magpie in the garden and picked it up. He's a working line spaniel so the retrieving instinct is strong. He's a gentle soul, but the magpie was beyond saving.

My dog did once accidentally kill a young magpie. It just froze when it saw her and she picked it up in her mouth experimentally, there was no blood or anything, put it down again when she found it wasn't that interesting, but I think it died of shock.

For a while there were definitely more magpies hanging around (!) and I kept feeling the need to apologise for her, but there was no mobbing or attacking. Crows are very intelligent though, I wouldn't underestimate them.

😂

😂 😂 😂

If it makes you feel any better I once considered stepping in when I witnessed the ‘mating’ of two ducks. It was awful to watch. I was concerned the female duck was going to be drowned. I then came to my senses and realised I wasn’t going to wade into a river 😁.
Out of pure pettiness I now aim for female ducks when I feed them. Nature is harsh.

Crows are scavengers they will try and eat anything.

It knows you have been posting about it on mumsnet 😄

You did the right thing OP. Horrible to witness, but natural. The crow has to feed its young too. Hope you can put it from your mind soon.

crows?
stone them!
i knew Magpies were like this but hadnt thought about crows

It is sadly nature and the time of year for it, we have small birds nesting in a bush in our front gardens the seagulls have been hanging about for days luckily my dog scares them away but I am aware it probably won't end well for the nesting birds .

For some reason I thought they only ate carrion, I love crows and never seen that side to them. But nature is nature